Page 65 - Taste_and_Travel_International

COOKING SCHOOL FRANCE

STEVE DUNK

T’S 9:30 AM AND I’M ELBOW-DEEP IN
foie gras in a château in southwest France. Not
literally to the elbows, mind you, but I’m as up-
close-and-personal as I’m likely to get, thrilled
and terrified in equal measure as I tease vascular
tissue free from the prized duck liver. Despite
Ithe cooling armour of the castle’s thick walls,
the foie gras seems to be melting under my fingers and
I’m beginning to sweat. My mentor, Chef Thierry Meret,
reassures me with his usual bonhomie — and a shot of plum
brandy. Soon the cleaned-but-slightly-decimated liver is
ready for pinches of salt, pepper and nutmeg, lashings of
liqueur and firm wrapping in a 0+. $+*ƫ— a tea towel — PHOTOS THIS SPREAD CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
soaked in white wine. Tied butcher-style with twine, I leave LEFT Bergerac vineyards; Comte François-Xavier
de Saint-Exupéry of Château de Tiregand; Chefs
it to cure in the refrigerator for a day or two to become "+%!ƫ
#. /ƫ 1ƫ0+. $+*ƫ— a traditional preparation in this region, Fudge & Meret depart Château Montastruc;
Escargot samples; Escargot farmer Aurelie Binot
whose foie gras is known throughout France. De Vente with Chef Fudge; Cheese platter.
The region is the Perigord — a patchwork of vineyards,
croplands and forest anchored by the Dordogne River in
northern Aquitaine — and the kitchen belongs to Château
th
Montastruc, a 13 -century castle fortified and renovated
through centuries of battle and glory. The castle’s my home
for a week as I attend a “gastronomic adventure” hosted
annually by Calgary cooking school, 1%/%*!ƫ!0ƫ $>0! 1.
When we first met in 2014, Meret was a guest chef at the
Slow Food tent at the Calgary Folk Music Festival. He
described the proffered meal passionately — of course —
but it was his infectious humour and his genuine
engagement with those around him that kept me in thrall at
the booth — and later, in classes at the beautifully
appointed cooking school he helms with his work-and-life-
partner, Chef Marnie Fudge.
Born in the Loire valley and Paris-trained, Meret has been
a long-time visitor to, and fan of, the Perigord region.

JANUARY–MARCH 20185 TASTE;5TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL 63